[wonton]
by trixie_chick
Endanger
Her best friend had suddenly gone mad. Or, perhaps, undergone a personality transfer when he had been taken to the hospital. Something was wrong with him. Something had... infected him. And she knew exactly when it had happened, too. She'd been standing right next to him. Not that she could explain what happened. One second, he was normal Hikaru, trying to do something sneaky and selfish, and the next second, he was freaking out, and then, he was flat on his back. The next day, IT had arrived.
Maybe IT was an infection, maybe IT was insanity, maybe IT was a personality transfer, but IT was a part of Hikaru. He suddenly got sick in the middle of a test. He was weirdly irritable and cranky, differently than how he was usually irritable and cranky. He talked to himself. She heard him, because she followed him. She followed him, because he was her best friend. And, he might marry her someday. She was practical enough to know that was a definite might, but they were in middle school now, and he'd never once paid any attention to any girl but her. He really didn't have many other guy friends, either. Hikaru was kind of lazy, and a bit unfocused, and... perhaps, one might say, she took advantage of that. In a way. After class, she's ask him if he wanted to walk home, and because they lived next door to each other, and it made sense, he did, and then he didn't need to spend time with other people. She sometimes brought him treats from her lunch to share with him, and they'd eat together. It was normal friends stuff, so it wasn't weird taking advantage of him, but it meant that when he wanted some new cool video game, he didn't go ask some guy friend of his to help him out. He came to her. So, they definitely were friends, and he definitely might marry her.
That was before IT, though.
IT made Hikaru talk to himself and act weird. IT made Hikaru go off and do things and then snap at her when she tried to ask about it. IT made him leave school as soon as the bell rang, before she even had a chance to ask him if he wanted to walk home.
IT... made Hikaru... not Hikaru.
The failure, however, was in not being able to diagnose IT. If she knew what was wrong with him... well, she'd know. She'd know if it was permanent, or if it was curable. She'd know if she could live with IT, or if IT could live with her. Most of all...
She'd know if she was responsible.
They'd been standing right next to each other, after all. Whatever IT was, IT could have gotten her. But IT only got Hikaru. Maybe she'd done something. Maybe he'd done something to protect her.
Because she didn't know, she couldn't let go.
So when he told her he was going to start playing some weird old board game... well, she'd play, too. He was still her best friend. He was still the person she was closest to in the world, even if he had IT.
She would have to wait and see.
Endanger
Her best friend had suddenly gone mad. Or, perhaps, undergone a personality transfer when he had been taken to the hospital. Something was wrong with him. Something had... infected him. And she knew exactly when it had happened, too. She'd been standing right next to him. Not that she could explain what happened. One second, he was normal Hikaru, trying to do something sneaky and selfish, and the next second, he was freaking out, and then, he was flat on his back. The next day, IT had arrived.
Maybe IT was an infection, maybe IT was insanity, maybe IT was a personality transfer, but IT was a part of Hikaru. He suddenly got sick in the middle of a test. He was weirdly irritable and cranky, differently than how he was usually irritable and cranky. He talked to himself. She heard him, because she followed him. She followed him, because he was her best friend. And, he might marry her someday. She was practical enough to know that was a definite might, but they were in middle school now, and he'd never once paid any attention to any girl but her. He really didn't have many other guy friends, either. Hikaru was kind of lazy, and a bit unfocused, and... perhaps, one might say, she took advantage of that. In a way. After class, she's ask him if he wanted to walk home, and because they lived next door to each other, and it made sense, he did, and then he didn't need to spend time with other people. She sometimes brought him treats from her lunch to share with him, and they'd eat together. It was normal friends stuff, so it wasn't weird taking advantage of him, but it meant that when he wanted some new cool video game, he didn't go ask some guy friend of his to help him out. He came to her. So, they definitely were friends, and he definitely might marry her.
That was before IT, though.
IT made Hikaru talk to himself and act weird. IT made Hikaru go off and do things and then snap at her when she tried to ask about it. IT made him leave school as soon as the bell rang, before she even had a chance to ask him if he wanted to walk home.
IT... made Hikaru... not Hikaru.
The failure, however, was in not being able to diagnose IT. If she knew what was wrong with him... well, she'd know. She'd know if it was permanent, or if it was curable. She'd know if she could live with IT, or if IT could live with her. Most of all...
She'd know if she was responsible.
They'd been standing right next to each other, after all. Whatever IT was, IT could have gotten her. But IT only got Hikaru. Maybe she'd done something. Maybe he'd done something to protect her.
Because she didn't know, she couldn't let go.
So when he told her he was going to start playing some weird old board game... well, she'd play, too. He was still her best friend. He was still the person she was closest to in the world, even if he had IT.
She would have to wait and see.